Music-turner.



H. F. GUDDE.

MUSIC TURNER.

APPLICATION FILED ooT.1o, 1912.

Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

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H. F. GUDDE.

MUSIC TURNER. APPLICATION I'ILED OCT. l0, 1912. 1,073,851. Patented sept. 23, 1913.

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HUGO F. GUDDE, OF CLEVELANDLOI-IIO.

MUSIC-TURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

Application filed October 10, 1912. Serial No. 724,927.

chanical means when the operative parts thereof are released by the suitable actuation of releasing mechanism. These devices, as is Vwell known, are more favored for use in turning music than for any other purpose, partly owing to the rapidity of Vtheir operation, and .partly to the fact that a per' formers hands are so'fully occupied with the rendition of the selection as to render it inconvenient or impossible for him to turn the music by hand. When 4employed for a keyboard instrument such as a piano or organ, the device is sometimes made to be released by a hand-pressed trigger and sometimes by a foot operated pedal, the idea of the former arrangement being that although the performer might not have sufficient time to enable him to turn the sheet by hand he would still have sufficient time to touch a trigger, in case such trigger were sufliciently conveniently located. Many devices of this type have already been proposed but the same have generally been inefficient either because of their mechanical complexity, their operative unreliability, thedifii-` culty of setting them in the first place, or t-he difliculty of resetting .them for a succeeding operation.

Among the objects `of the present inven- Vtion are the provision of a device of great simplicity, durability, reliability and convenience of manipulation; the provision of a device which can be easily set and easily reset; the provision of a device of this character wherein the different turning arms shall at all times lie close to the plane of the paper, and shall at all times preserve an echelon or stepped arrangement so that the different arms may never conflict with each other;

the provision of a device wherein upon theV movement of each arm from one side to the other the remaining arms shall move sulficiently to make room for 1t; while other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In brief, my invention may be defined as consisting of the combinations of parts recited in the claims hereto annexed and illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of this application,wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a music rack equipped with my improved device, the same being shown in connection with a piece of music whose leaves are to be turned. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional view of the same parts showing the turner in side elevation; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the turner alo-ne, a portion of the top plate being broken away so as to show the interior construction;Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse cross-sectional views taken upon similarly Vnumbered lines of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a detail cross sectional View taken on the line 6-6 o-f Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4 and looking upwardly.

In these drawings I have shown my improved mechanism as accompanying a peculiar form of music stand, although it is to be understood that the turning mechanism may, and frequently will, be sold separately from the stand with the intent that it be applied to existing stands of whatever type. I have illustrated it thus in connection with a stand so that its mode of operation might be clear, but without intent to limit myself to the particular combination shown. This particular stand comprises a flat, book supporting member l, of metal or other suitable material made in any desired design and provided at each end with a bracket 2 whereby it may be secured to a piano, organ, table, or other support. A clip 3 of wire or other resilient material is preferably carried by the supporting member so as to overlie the face thereof and receive the back of the music book placed thereon and define the position of the back or fold thereof. At the top of the supporting member 1 is a bracket tand to this bracket is attached my improved turning device; the construction whereofv will now be described.

This device comprises a rectangular metallic body 5 having in its upper side a parallel walled recess 6, here illustrated as running from end to end of the body, and

mounted in this recess are a plurality of parallel spacing-plates 7-7 defining a plurality of parallel-walled yguide-ways 8 whose number will depend upon the number of arms which the device is designed to possess. These spacing plates may be secured in place in any convenient manner as by inserting their lower edges in narrow grooves 9 formed in the body 5 at the bottom of the recess 6. these guideways are elongated metallic blocks lOL-10b--10C-10d and 10e (upto the number of the guide ways provided) in which are journaled rotatable shafts 111, 11", 11C, etc., respectively. The lower portion of each of the blocks is recessed as at 12xfor the reception of al pinion 13 carried by the corresponding shaft as clearly shown in Figs. 4L and 7. The portion of the block 10b adjacent to the block 10@ is formed with a toothed rack 14D meshing with the pinion 13 carried by the shaft 11, the recess 12 being suitably elongated as illustrated at-l so as to permit relative movement of the blocks past each other. Likewise each of they remaining blocks 10 C, 10d, 10e,etc., is provided with a similar rack meshing` with the pinion carried by the preceding block. The pinion carried by the last block (in this case block 10e) meshes with a stationary rack laf fiXedly attached to the block 5 at the side of the guideway in which this block reciprocates. l The spacing-plates 7 are formed with longitudinal slots 16 as shown in Fig. 7 for the reception of the various racks. Each of the blocks 10, 10b, 10, etc., with the exception of the last block is also preferably pro-vided with a laterally projecting pin or stud 17 projecting through the slot 1G into an elongated recess 18 in the face of the adjacent block so as to limit the movement of each block relative to its neighbor sufiiciently to prevent disengagement between the various racks and pinions. Moreover the length of the recess 18 and the size of the pinion 13 is such as to impart to each of the shafts 11a, 11b, 11, etc., a rotation of substantially 180 degrees upon the movement of the block from one eX- treme of its motion to the opposite eX- treme. The longitudinal movement of the last block of the series is here shown as limited lby means of a fiXed block 19 mounted in the end of the corresponding guideway, although other means could obviously be employed. y

For the purpose of controlling the movement of the various blocks and their corrcsponding shafts7 the following arrangement may be employed. The bottom portion of the body 5 is provided at a point in the rear of the middle thereof with a plurality of narrow transverse slots 20-20, traversing the guideways 8-8 and preferabl` at substantially right angles thereto. pin 21 Slidably mounted in' Adevice is set in readiness for operation.

parallel to the guideways 8-8 traverses the slots 20-2O at one end thereof7 and upon this pin are pivoted a plurality of triggers 22a, 22h, 22C, etc., one for each slot. rlhese triggers are formed at their free ends with upturned rounded fingers 23a, Q3", etc., adapted to be introduced into the guideways 8 8 in the rear of blocks 10a, 10b, 10C, etc. These triggers are yieldingly held in elevated position by means of leaf springs 241 pressing against the lower or rear sides thereof and conveniently carried by a removable plate 25 secured in a recess in the bottom ofthe body 5. The finger 23a being that which lies nearest the forward ends of the body 5 and the blocks 10ft7 10b, 10c, etc., being ofl substantially equal length it will be seen that the shafts 11a, 11b, 11C7 etc., will be located vin echelon formation when the Between theforward end of each block and the forward end of its guidewayY a helical eX- pansion spring 26 is-compressed, the forward ends of all the springs preferably being abutted against a plate 27 inset in the end Awall of the body 5. The top and sides of the body 5 are preferably covered and inclosed by a metal casing inemberQS whereby all of the working parts are inclosed and covered, the top of this casing being formed with a plurality of parallel slots 29a, 29h, etc., through which project the shafts 11, 11b, etc., respectively.

Rigidly secured to the shafts 11a, 11b, 11C, etc., are radial arms 317 31h, and 31, etc., respectively, and to the outer ends of these `arms are pivoted` depending fingers 32a, 32h,

etc., adapted to be interposed between the various sheets which are to be turned, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. lThe arrangement of the shafts lla, 11b, etc., in echelon formation permits these arms to lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other and without interference.

Rotatably mounted in a socket 35 formed in the body 5 parallel to and forward of the pin 21 is a cylindrical drum 35 which traverses the top of all the triggers 22a, 22h, etc., and has upon its surface a plurality of circumferential grooves 37a, 37b, etc., which register with the triggers 22a, 22h, etc., respectively. These grooves are each intersected at least at one point by slopingsided obstructions 38a, 38h, etc., the obstructions in successive grooves being arranged otherwise than in direct alinenient and progressing uniformly about the circumference of the drum. Likewise each of the triggers 22a, 22h, etc., is provided with an inclined projection 39 projecting into the corresponding' groove. i

The outer end of the drum 3G is formed with ratchet teeth as illustrated at 10, while in the outer end of the recess 35 is mounted a rock shaft 41 having a spring pressed pawl 42 engaging said ratchet teeth, said rock shaft also having secured to its outer end a lever arm 43 whereby it may be operated. Suitably pivoted to the brackets 2 2 are forwardly extending levers 44-44 connected by a cross bar 45 to which is attached a reciprocating rod 46, the upper end of which is artcu ated to the lever 43 as shown in Fig. 2. A coil spring 47 is employed to maintain this rod in raised position, while the forward ends of the arms 4444 may be connected by means of aV finger-bar 48 by which the arms together with the reciprocating rod 46 may be depressed at will.

The operation of the device is as follows: The various parts being set as illustrated in the drawings, with the lingers 32a, 32h, etc.,

-interposed between successive sheets of music, if the bar 48 be depressed, the rock shaft 41 and drum 35 will be rotated together so as to cause the depression of the trigger 22=L and the release of the block 10a. This block, under the influence of the spring 26, now moves forwardly relatively to the block 10b by the amo-unt permitted by the pin 17 and slot 18, the shaft 11a being meanwhile rotated by the action of the rack 14` and the arm 31a swung through an angle of 180o carrying with it the music sheet. This action, therefore, not only turns the arm 31a through a semicircle, but moves its pivot rearwardly to a distance as much in the rear of the pivot of the succeeding arm as it originally was in front of such pivot. If now the nger bar 48 be again depressed, the trigger 22b will be forced downwardly, releasing the block 10b which likewise moves rearwardly past the block 100, meanwhile rotating its shaft 11", and swinging the arm 31b through a half revolution. This action is then arrested by the pin and slot engagement with the following block, at which time the shaft 11b will have moved past 11c to an extent equal to its original advance forward of that shaft. The block 10a will accompany the block 10b in its rearward movement but without any movement of the shaft 11a. Similarly the remaining arms can be actuated successively, the actuation of each arm being caused by the movement of its block relatively to the succeeding block and carrying with it t-he block or blocks preceding it until the whole number of arms has been actuated, whereupon they will be found to possess the same echelon arrangement but in reverse order. Meanwhile all of the fingers 23a, 23D, etc., of the various triggers will be rubbing against the bottoms of the different blocks but without obstructing their movement since the same are smooth and uninterrupted at their rearward ends.

In order to reset the device for a succeeding operation it is necessary merely to rotate the arm 31a back to its original position,

carrying the remaining arms before it, the interaction of each pinion with its corresponding rack serving to force its corresponding block forward in its guideway against the action of its spring 26 until the rearends of all of the blocks are moved past their corresponding triggers, whereupon the triggers are elevated by their springs so as to retain the sameuntil released for a succeeding operation. Of course the different arms can be setback separately without damage to the apparatus although such care is not necessary. v

In the present embodiment I have illustrated each of the grooves 372.3711, etc., in the drum 36 as formed with two diametrically opposite obstructions 38a, 38h, etc., respectively, the obstructions in successive grooves being displaced forwardly through an. angle o-f one-fifth of 180 or 368. cordingly, it will be seen that after `five reciprocatlons ofthe rod 46 whereby the five triggers 22a, 22", etc., have successively been released so as to permit the actuation of the arms 31a, etc., the drum 36 will have been rotated through 180; wherefore, upon the resetting of the blocks 10a, 10b, etc., the opposite obstruction 38a will be in position to actuate the trigger 22a so as vto free the block 10EL upon the following reciprocation of the rod 46. It will be understood, however, that this is merely a matter of design and can be varied widely within the scope of my inventive idea. In fact this feature will depend largely upon the number of arms 31 employed, since if ten or more were used it would probably be impossible to crowd ten or more obstructions into the half of the groove without making the drum unduly large, while if so small a number as three were used it might be necessary to subdivide the circumference of the drum still more finely in order to reduce the angle turned between actuations of successive levers. Also, while I have illustrated and particularly described a construction in which the shafts 11 are arranged in echelon formation irrespective of the position of the arms 31, it will be understood that similar results would be obtained in case the shafts were in straight line formation at one position of the arms 31, the eehelon formation being acquired when the arms are turned to opposite position. Although for purposes of symmetry I prefer the arrangement illustrated,v I consider this modification the substantial equivalent thereof and desire that my claims be read with this in view.

Furthermore it will be understood that I esteem my invention to reside entirely within the turning device proper, meaning thereby the parts numbered 5 to 43 inclusive, inasmuch as it is obvious that the same can be employed with music stands of a great many .different types and that the releasing mecha-- I claim is nism may take a great many forms other than that herein shown without departing from my inventive idea.

Finally it will be understood that while I have described in detail and particularly pointed out-that form of construction which appears most desirable to me at the present time, I do not propose to be limited to such details or features of construction except as the, same may be positively recited in the claims hereto annexed or rendered necessary Vby the'prior state of the art.

Having thus described my invention, what l. In a device of the character described, in combination a plurality of arms pivoted at one end, the pivotal points of said arms being adjacent to each other and arranged inr echelon formation whereby said arms, when turned in the same direction, may lie Vclosely adjacent to and parallel with each in combination, a pluralitv of arms pivoted at one end, the pivo-tal points of said arms being adjacent to each other and said arms being so formed rela-tively to `their pivots as to lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other when turned in the same direction, means for rotating said arms about their pivots beginning with the forward arm of the series, the angle of movement of each arm being substantially one hundred and eighty degrees, and for simultaneously shifting the pivotal point of the arms which have already been moved past the pivotal points of the arms yet to be moved, whereby said arms when in reverse position will lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a support for an open book, of a plurality of arms pivoted upon axes substantially parallel with the face of said support, such pivotal axes being arranged in ech-clon formation and respectively increasing in distance from th-e plane of said support whereby said arms when turned in the same direction may lie closely adjacent to each otaer and parallel both to each other and to the plane of said support, fingers carri-ed by said arms adapted to engage the leaves of the book or like article carried by said support, means for rotate ing said arms successively about their pivots through an angle of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees and for simultaneously shifting the pivotal point of such arm toward the rear of the pivotal point of the succeeding arm whereby the echelon arrangement of the pivots will be reversed simultaneously with the reversal of the position of the arms.

4e. In a device of the character described, the combination with a support for an open book, of a plurality of arms pivoted upon axes substantially parallel with the face of said support, such pivotal axes being arranged in echelon formation so that when said arms are turned toward the right they will lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other and also substantially parallel to the face of said support with the pivot of the foremost arm located at the left of the series and farthest removed from the plane of said support, lingers carried by said arms adapted to engage the leaves of the book or like article carried by said support, means for rotating said arms successively about their pivot through an angle of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees, beginning with the nearest of said arms and for simultaneously shifting the pivotal point of such arm and of all previously moved arms toward the rear of the pivotal points of the arms remaining to be moved whereby the echelon arrangement of the pivots will be reversed simultaneously with the reversal of the position of the arms.

5. 1n a device of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of relatively movable members arranged side by side, of rotatable shafts journaled in and projecting beyond said members and having their axes substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said members, radial arms carried by said shafts and arranged when turned to a position substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said members to lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other, means for successively moving each member beginning with the end member of the series past the succeeding members and means for simultaneously rotating the shaft carried by such member so as to reverse the position of the arm secured thereto.

6. ln a device of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of relatively movable members arranged side by side, of rotatable shafts journaled in and projecting beyond said members and having their axes substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of such members, operative connections between each of said shafts and the succeeding member for causing a rotation of said shaft to accompany every Amovement of that member relatively thereto, means for restricting such relative movement to an amount which shall cause substantially a half rotation of said shaft, radial arms carried by said shafts and arranged when turned to a position substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said members to lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each` other, and means for successively moving each member beginning with the end member ofi the series past the succeeding membersand thereby `rotating the shaft carried by such member so as to reverse the position of the arm secured thereto. l l

7. In a device of the character described, the combination, With a plurality of members arranged side by side andmovable relatively to each other in a longitudinal direction, of rotatable shafts journaled in and projecting beyond said membersand having their axes substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said members, radial arms carried by said shafts and arranged when turned into a position substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said members to lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other, connections between each member and the shaft carried by the preceding member whereby upon the longitudinal movement of the preceding member relatively to such succeeding member, the shaft carried by said preceding member will be rotated throughan angle of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees, means tending to shift all of said members in the same direction, and means for releasing said members successively beginning with the first member of the series so as to permit them to advance past the remaining members of the series.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination, with "a plurality of relatively movable members arranged side by side, of rotatable shafts journaled in and projecting beyond said members and having their axes substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said members, radial arms carried by said shafts and arranged when turned to a position substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said members to lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other, connections between each member and the shaft carried by the preceding member whereby upon the movement of each of such preceding members relatively to its succeeding member, the shaft carried by said preceding member will be rotated through an angle of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees, interengaging means carried by the neighboring members ofthe series whereby their movement relative to each other is limited to the amount necessary to impart to each shaft a rotation of substantially one hundred and eighty degrees, and means for releasing said members successively beginning with the first member of the'series so as to permit each member in turn in company with all the preceding members to advance past the remaining members of the series, each of the members of said series after its original release being restrained in its forward movement only by said interengaging means. Y

V9. In a device ofthe character described, the combination, with a plurality of relatively movable members arranged side by side,of a shaft journaled in each of said members and projecting beyond the same, the axis of each shaft being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of'its member, a pinion carried by each of said shafts, a rack carried by each of said members excepting the first member of the series andl meshing with the pinion carried by the shaft of the preceding member, a fixed rack engagingthe pinion of the last member of the series, means tending to shift all of said members in the same direction, means whereby said members may be released successively beginning with the first member of the series to move under the influence of such means relatively to the succeeding members, means carried by each of said members and engaging the neighboring member whereby the amount of movement of each member relative to its neighbor is limited to the amount required to impart to itsshaft a half-rotation, and radial arms carried by said shafts and adapted to lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other, said armsprior to the release of anyy of said members lying substantially perpendicular to t-he direction of movement of said members.

l0. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a supporting body lhaving parallel guideways, of a member slidably mounted in each guideway and movable relatively to the neighboring members, a shaft journaled in each of said members and projecting beyond the same, the axis of said shaft being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said member, a pinion carried by each of said shafts, a rack carried by each of said members excepting the first member of the series and meshing with the pinion carried by the shaft of the preceding member, a rack carried by said supporting bodyand engaging the pinion of the last member of the series, means limiting the relative movement of neighboring members to the amount necessary to impart to the shaft of the preceding member of the pair al half-rotation, means for advancing said members successively beginning with the first member of the series, means for maintaining in fixed position the members succeeding the member being advanced, means for advancing the preceding members of the series uniformly with the member being advanced, and radial arms carried by said shafts and adapted to li-e closely adjacent and parallel to each other, said arms prior to the release of any of said members lying substantially perpendicular to the direction of said members.

1l. 1n a device of the character described, the combination, With a supporting body, of a plurality of longitudinally movable members carried thereby, a rotatable shaft carried by each of said members and journaled upon an axis substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement thereof, radial arms carried by said shafts, means for maintainingsaid members in such relative position that said arms, when turned in one direction, lie closely adjacent to and parallel With each other, means for rotating said shafts successively so as to swing said arms respectively through substantially a half circle, and means for simultaneously shifting said blocks relatively to each other so as to move the shafts of the previously moved arms into the rear `of 'the shafts of the arms remaining to be moved so as to permit said arms to lie closely adjacent to and parallel With each other When in reversed position.

l2. ln a device of the character described, the combination, With Va book support of a body having guidevvays substantially normal to the plane thereof, a longitudially movable member in each guideivay, a rotatable shaft carried by each of said members and journaled upon an axis substantially parallel to the plane of said book support, radial arms carried by said shafts, means for maintaining said shafts in such relative position that said arms, when turned in one direction, lie closely adjacent to and parallel with each other7 lingers carried by said shafts and adapted to engage the leaves of a book on said support, means for releasably retaining said members in the portions of their respective guideways furthest removed from the plane of said book support, said arms at that time being turned to the right and the first or outside arm being connected to the left hand member, the next arm being that connected to the next member at the right, etc, means for successively shifting along their guidevvays toward the plane of said bool; support the members beginning With the left hand member so as -to shift toward such plane the shafts carried thereby, and means operati-ve simultaneously With the shifting` of each member for rotatingin a clockwise direction the shaft carried thereby so as to reverse the position of its arm.

18. In a device of the character described, the combination, With a supporting body, of a plurality of separately movable blocks car-. ried. thereby, a rotatable shaft carried by each of said blocks, the axis of each shaft being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of its block, means tending to move all of said blocks in the same direction, detent means for releasably holding said blocks against such movement, mechanism for releasing said detent means in succession so as t0 free said blocks successively means for rotating each of said shafts through substantially an angle of one Vhundred Vand eighty degrees simultaneously with the longitudinal movement of its supporting block, Vand radial arms carried by said shaft and adapted to lie closely parallel to and adjacent to'each other both in direct and reverse position.

la. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of separately movable members, of a rotatable shaft carried by each of said members, the axis of each shaft being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of its member, means tending to move all of said members in the same direction, a plurality of spring pressed triggers adapted to be inserted into the path of movement of said members whereby the same may be held against movement, mechanism for Withdravving said triggers in rotation so as to free said members successively, means for rotating each of said shafts through substantially an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees simultaneously with the longitudinal movement of its supporting member relative to the neighboring member, and radial arms carried by said shafts and vadapted to lie closely parallel to and adjacent to each other both in direct and reversed position.

15. In a device of the character described, the combination, With a supporting body, of a plurality of slidable members carried thereby, said members being separately movable along substantially parallel paths and each of said members having a shoulder and a smooth portion adjacent to said shoulder, a rotatable shaft carried by each of said members, the axis of each shaft being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of each member, means tending to move all of said members in the same direction, a plurality of spring-pressed triggers carried by said supporting body, one of said triggers being adapted to engage the shoulder of each of said members whereby the same may be held against movement, mechanism for withdrawing said triggers in rotation so as to free said members successively, means for thereafter releasing said triggers so as to permit them to engage the portions of their respective members adjacent to the shoulders thereof, whereby said triggers may rengage said shoulders in obstructing position upon the resetting of said members, means for 1mparting to each of said shafts a half rotaV tion simultaneously with the longitudinal movement of its member relative to the neighboring member', and radial arms carried by said shafts and adapted to lie closely parallel with and adjacent to each other both in direct and reversed position.

16. `In a device of the character described, in combination, a plurality of shouldered members, said members being separately movable along substantially parallel paths, a rotatable shaft carried by each of said members, the axis of each shaft being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of each member, means tending to move all of said members in the same direct-ion, spring-pressed detent mechanism adapted to engage the shoulders of said members whereby the same may be held against movement, the portion of each member adjacent to the shoulder thereof being smooth and uninterrupted, `mechanism for disengaging said detent mechanism from said shoulders in succession beginning with the first member of the series so as to free said members successively, said mechanism being arranged to release said detent mechanism immediately after the movement of the shoulder there past and permit it to engage the portion of its respective member adjacent to such shoulder whereby it may rengage said shoulder in obstructing position upon the resetting of said member, means for imparting to each of said shafts a half rotation simultaneously with the longitudinal movement of its member relative to the neighboring member, and radial arms carried by said shaft and adapted to lie closely parallel with and adjacent to each other both in direct and reverse position.

17. In a device of the character described, the combination, with a supporting body, of a plurality of separately movable blocks carried thereby, a rotatable shaft carried by each of said blocks, the axis of each shaft being substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the blocks, a radial arm carried by each of Said shafts, means tending to move all of said blocks in the same direction, means for imparting to each of said shafts a half rotation simultaneously with the longitudinal movement of its block relative to the neighboring block, a trigger operatively associated with each of said blocks whereby the same may be held against movement, a reciprocable member, and connections between said reciprocable member and each of said triggers whereby upon each successive reciprocation thereof, successive triggers beginning with the first trigger of the series will be released.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HUGO F. GUDDE. Witnesses:

HAROLD S. SMITH, BRENNAN B. VEST.

Copies of this patent may 'De obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

